Alex Rider: ABC Prompt
by Kaleidoscopic Panda Bear
Summary: Just as the title says; my ABC prompt for the Alex Rider book series, and somewhat the Stormbreaker movie. Rated for language, mostly.
1. A for Aberrant

A: Aberrant

"To go astray; to turn away from what is right."

Yassen Gregovich had told him to go to Venice, that he would find his Destiny there. All Alex Rider found at first was a Tiger intent on eating him. When that assassin, Nile, came into the room, Alex had been wary.

As he should have been.

When he had woken up in the flooding cell, he had been pissed. A now dead contract killer had sent him to his death, or so Alex had thought.

When the teen had been picked up by Julia Rothman, his anger had subsided. Julia talked about John and how she had loved him so, and in doing this, suckered Alex into joining SCORPIA.

He was an aberrant, ex-agent for MI6. He was also the youngest assassin to be trained for SCORPIA.

When SCORPIA had sent him to kill Mrs. Jones, he realized he couldn't be a part of SCORPIA for two reasons:

One, he was trained to be a spy.

Two, in his mind, he knew it was wrong.

But he pulled the trigger anyway. He missed on purpose though. He had seen the glass come up, knew what would happen. He wanted to miss, wanted to fail SCORPIA so he could join MI6 again.

He wasn't meant to be aberrant; Alex's sense of right and wrong was too strong for that.

So when he took down Invisible Sword and Dragon Nine, he ignored the feeling of irony, because, in a way, he was being aberrant to SCORPIA.

For once, he was glad he had opposed to his 'Destiny.'


	2. B for Blackmail

B: Blackmail

"The art of trapping someone and forcing them to do something with the use of their personal information."

Alex hated MI6 for many reasons, but one reason topped them all; Blackmail. The heads of SO seemed to have no quilt about blackmailing a fourteen year old into dangerous situations.

Seven times, he's seen death, been face to face with it and almost in its grasp. Seven times MI6 has placed seven different reasons he would go on the suicidal missions for.

The first time, it had been for Jack. MI6 had threatened to deport her, but if Alex went on the mission, they would renew her visa and let her stay. The second time it had been that they would send him to Brecon Beacons for his summer vacation. After they had found out about how Alex had told Tom everything, they threatened to recruit him. That seemed to get Alex quite a bit, so they used that for the fourth time, too.

When the fifth time rolled around, Alex gave in far too easily for his own liking. He had come back from Bangkok with the intentions of never going on a mission ever again. The sixth time, they threatened to tell Jack about Ash. And for his latest mission, Blunt told him that he would show videos of the young spy in action to the rest of K-Unit.

Alex didn't see how this could be bad for him, so he let Blunt do it. In reality, he should have thought about it more. Snake demanded a full body cataloguing of all his scars, Wolf was pissed that a teenager could upstage him, Eagle kept challenging him to a race, and Fox refused to look the teen in the eye.

So he went on the seventh mission.

When MI6 tried to get him on his eighth mission, Alex dished out his own Blackmail. He had stolen a video of himself on his Point Blanc mission. He threatened to show the police, then the government.

Blunt sat back and smiled.

"You've learned well, Alex. Go home."


	3. C for Cageling

C: Cageling

"The feeling of being trapped; not being able to go anywhere."

There were gunshots and shouting, heavy footfalls and obscenities uttered, coupled with harsh breathing. There were footsteps outside his cell door.

Alex considered shouting out, but he let his head fall forward again. There were three more guns fired, and the door was thrown open.

Everything froze before Alex looked up; the people in the threshold would either kill him or save him.

K-Unit looked at their youngest member in horror. Alex was chained to the wall, hanging in midair. Blood was pooling around his feet, which were just a few inches above the floor, and the red substance was running down his arms.

Cuts were everywhere. Some from knives, some from whips. A lot from whips. Eagle and Snake stepped up to get him down.

"How do you feel, Cub?" Fox asked, a frown set in place.

The teen flashed a heartbreaking smile.

"I feel…Like a caged bird. I don't remember the taste of freedom."

He slumped into Eagle as his bindings were cut away. The man carried him out of the room.

Alex saw the littered bodies everywhere and sighed. These were the men who had tortured him for months on end, who he had begun to think of as untouchable.

Bullets could touch everything; Alex knew that now.

A cold breeze hit him with the scent of gasoline and frozen earth. He opened his eyes; he hadn't even realized he had closed them.

Eagle's boot hit snow with a loud crunch as Cub sat up in his arms.

"Welcome back to freedom, my little cageling," the man whispered.

Alex was set on his feet in the cold snow, a fatigue jacket hitting his shoulders as his knees hit the ground.

And, seeing the sun rise, he did what his captors had wanted him to do in those long, horrid torture sessions. Alex Rider cried.

His unit sat in a semi-circle around the boy in respectful silence, waiting for their Cub to tell them to take him home.


	4. D for Dying

D: Dying

"To live no longer."

Some agents said that the teen had no fear. No weakness, nothing to bring him down a few notches.

They were wrong.

Alex's fear was Death. Not himself dying, but others because of him. If Jack were to die, or even Tom, Alex would not be able to go on. He knew he wasn't too young to die, God, he knew that all too well. But he also knew that Jack and Tom didn't **deserve **to die. But what he really feared more than dying was not having anyone to talk to.

Tom would listen; Tom wouldn't judge his mistakes or laugh in his face. Jack would protect him. She was there for him whenever Alex needed her, and even when he thought he didn't. There had been one time when she unplugged all the phones and let Tom stay over for a week. Alex hadn't asked, but Jack had felt he needed a break.

When Ian had died, Alex hadn't felt any sadness. MI6 hadn't given him time to grieve. He had been too young to grieve his parents, and too traumatized to grieve the assassin, Yassen Gregovich. When he walked through the halls of the royal and general bank, going up to Blunt's office, he felt no need to answer the agents' unasked questions.

There had been one instance when he witnessed a new agent clearing off a desk. He saw the pictures of family that was not the new agent's, and he figured out why the other agents weren't afraid to die, either.

When you worked for the Royal and General, dying was an occupational hazard.


	5. E for Eagle

E: Eagle

"The SAS soldier Alex had come to love."

Alex didn't know how or why, but when he came back to Brecon Beacons the second time, K-unit was more friendly towards him. Fox had said it was because of his stunt in the French Alps, Eagle said it was because he was respectable. Later, when Wolf pushed him in the mud on the assault course, Cub came back to Eagle and rebuked the statement.

The man said, "Well, at least I respect you." Eagle would say no more on the subject. When MI6 pulled him out of training, he didn't get the chance to properly thank the man, either. But when K-Unit rescued him from Damien's clutches, and Blunt tried debriefing him in front of everyone when he was still wearing the maid's clothing*****, and the teen nearly burst into tears, it had been Eagle who had stood up for him.

"Stop it, Blunt!" He yelled, stepping between the two. Blunt gave him a curious glance but took a step back. "Stop what, soldier? Doing my job?" Eagle growled. "This isn't your job. This is your own form of torture. You could do this back at HQ, when Cub's in a more suitable condition for it."

He could feel the teen tugging at his arm, but he carried on.

"He takes so much shit from you guys. He has nightmares from the missions you send him on. All you've done is ruin his life! If I'm sick of it, then I know he has to be." Blunt glared at the soldier.

"Eagle, stop! You'll get us both in trouble!" Cub choked out. Eagle glanced back and saw tears smearing the makeup he had yet to get off. The soldier's jaw clicked. "Okay, Alex. Since this man seems to think this isn't a suitable place to debrief you, we'll go back to the bank." Alan Blunt went to grab Alex's arm, setting off a chain reaction.

As soon as his hand closed on Alex's arm, the teen screamed, "No!" at him. Eagle got pissed and proceeded to punch the head of SO in the face. Everyone seemed to hold their breath.

A sob ripped out of Alex's throat and Eagle encased the shaking teen in his arms. "Shh…It's okay, Cub. You're gonna be okay." He cooed in the boy's ear. Cub wrapped his arms around Eagle's neck and nodded.

"I love you…Oh God, I love you…" His lipstick rubbed off on Eagle's neck and the soldier's face lit up like the sun.

***= A little snippet of a side story I will be posting later, possibly.**


	6. F for Fighting

F: Fighting

"The act of inducing bodily harm on another."

Alex was in Karate class, much to his disdain. It wasn't like he didn't want to be there, he just didn't want to fight. When he had come back from his last mission, which had been Bangkok, he had been diagnosed with PTSD. When Alex had been forced to fight for his life, it really messed the teen's mind up.

Every time he had tried to have a friendly spar with Tom, he ended up having a flash-back which made him go into a state of terror, thus driving him to fight like he had in Bangkok. It was no different in Karate.

He heard his name being called, so he stood and looked at his trainer. "Spar with Kyle. Let's see if you still have it in you." He stepped up to the mat, rather reluctantly, and bowed to his opponent, as Kyle did to him. Alex took a shaky defensive position as Kyle threw the first hit.

Alex blocked it easily and kicked Kyle's feet out from under him. The teen easily rebuked it by sweeping Alex down, too. Suddenly, Alex was on his back and Kyle was aiming a false knife hand at his throat. An onslaught of memories hit Alex and he smashed his thumb into the teen's pressure point and whipped him over his shoulder.

A walk over landed him on the teen's right side, and before he could bring his hand down to compress Kyle's throat to stop his breathing, his wrist was grabbed. It didn't faze him. He K.O'd his instructor with a hit to the temple, but by then, the rest of the students knew something had gone wrong.

A black belt stepped up to subdue Alex as someone walked into the room. Two men ran forward, one pulling the black belt back and one tackling Alex. "Cub? Cub! Come out of it! You're not in Bangkok anymore, you're safe! _Ymaros_! Cub, _Ymaros_…"

At the Welsh word, Alex snapped his head back and hit it on the floor. He blinked twice, and then sucked a deep breath in. "Fox..?"


	7. G for Graveyard

G: Graveyard

"A place to bury your dead."

The Sergeant was dead. He had died in the field; stepping on a land mine tends to kill people instantly. It was a huge mass, but a small funeral. Only K-Unit, Cub, and a few other units stuck around for it. There weren't many words said; there wasn't anything to say.

After the last grain of dirt was placed back on top of the coffin, Cub jogged off. Halfway through the funeral, Wolf noticed that something had caught the young teen's attention. The four soldiers watched as their fifth member came to a halt in front of another grave, about five yards away.

Eagle was the first to follow. Soon after Fox saw Eagle sling an arm around the teen's shoulders in a comforting gesture, his curiosity got the best of him and he made his way over. Snake rested a hand upon his leader's shoulder. "Come now, mate. Seems like we're not the only ones with dead buried here."

His Scottish accent floated through Wolf's sluggish mind as he glanced at the three standing away from them. He nodded mutely and followed the Medic to Cub's side. As if he had waited for Wolf and Snake to come over, Cub kneeled and brushed the pile of built up snow down so the name was readable.

"John Rider" it said. Much to K-Unit's surprise, Cub kept moving to a second grave, and a third one. "Helen" and "Ian Rider" were written on these two. "Jesus, Cub…" Wolf. The teen just shrugged.

"I never knew any of them." Snake's brow furrowed. "I thought your uncle took care of you since your parents died." He stated. Cub shrugged again. "I didn't know _him._" The soldiers knew what he meant.

The teen pulled off his hat and ruffled his blonde locks. Instead of placing the cap back on his head, he set it gingerly on top of his father's grave. "He didn't want me to know him."


	8. H for Hugs

H: Hugs

"The affectionate act of encasing someone in your arms; a comforting gesture."

The first time Alex ever got a hug was from Tom, when he had scared away the bullies. The second time was when he had had a nightmare and Jack came to wake him. The third was when Sabina was going to America, and the fourth was when he was seeing James Spritz back home.

It wasn't that Alex disliked his friends' hugs; he just found the contact awkward and unneeded.

When you're trained to be a spy, you obtain this certain persona around you that seems to limit your need of physical contact. But when you're trapped in a damp cell for two months and the only physical contact you get is whips across his back and manhandling, hugs seem pretty amazing.

He had been helped out of the cell by a member of S-Unit, mostly walking on his own. When he got outside, Alex spotted Wolf yelling into a walky-talky and uttered a small surprised gasp. The man by his side jumped.

"You need medical attention. Come this way, Kid." Alex wrestled out of his grip. "I don't need medical attention," he muttered back. Alex made his way over to his old unit. He said Wolf's name and the man looked up. "Cub?" He asked. Alex nodded mutely.

The soldier from earlier came back then. "Look, Kid. You have open wounds that—" Alex cut him off. "I said I don't need any medical shit!" He rocked on his heels and folded his arms over his bare, battered chest. "Just go, Rabbit. Cub's stubborn." It was Fox.

"But! I—" Someone shifted. "Scram!" Rabbit jumped again and stalked back to his unit. Wolf chuckled darkly. Snake came up to Alex's side, giving the teen a skeptical once-over. "So, if you don't need any medical help, what do you need?" The Scottish man quirked an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

Alex felt his shoulders slump in defeat. "Honesty? I…I need a hug." Wolf groaned. "Eagle…" Fox called. The man came around the side of the truck. Alex could hear his music from where he stood. "What? Wait…Is that…Cub!"

Suddenly, Alex found himself wrapped in Eagle's arms, being spun around by the man. Laughter reached its way to Alex's ears and he smiled. Yeah, hugs were pretty amazing.


	9. I for Ian

I: Ian

"Alex's deceased Uncle."

Ian Rider, in no way, shape or form, thought of himself as a father towards his nephew. He thought of himself as a guardian, sure, but he was still just the boy's Uncle. Alex had other ideas at one point.

The boy had been four and a half, hardly old enough to know better. Alex had been down in the basement, doing God knows what, when Ian heard a crash. The man was down the steps in a heartbeat, different scenarios racing through his mind at a mile a minute. When he rounded the corner and saw Alex sitting there, trying to get the top half of a fallen shelf off of him, he sighed. Then the crying began.

Ian quickly jogged over and pulled the boy away from the mess. "Shh…Alex, it's okay. You're fine. What happened?" He gently rubbed the boy's back and rocked him in his arms. "D-Dad…" Ian felt small hands grasp at his shirt and he was pretty sure he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

But he didn't amend Alex's mistake and Alex never said it again. Until ten years later, that is. The teen had woken startled and alert, on edge. Maybe he had screamed in his nightmare, maybe he hadn't, but in seconds, both Ian and Jack were in Alex's room.

Instead of paying attention to Jack's obsessive concern and curiosity, Alex reached his arms out for Ian. Not wanting to upset the teen any more, the man wrapped Alex in a hug and felt a pang of guilt as the teen addressed him as 'Dad' once again.

Ian didn't amend Alex's mistake, and Alex never said it again…


	10. J for Jack

J: Jack

"Alex's housekeeper, and guardian after Ian."

Alex didn't know what it was about Jack Starbright, but she had a way with Alex that nobody else did, not even Tom. The fiery, red-headed American had a temper with a short fuse, and the fists to back it up. No, she had never hit Alex, but she had hit a number of people, mostly men, in front of the teen. She had even hit Wolf once, which is another story altogether. But contrary to her temper, her concern for Alex's well-being was something to marvel at.

Ian had hired the Woman when Alex was eight, and she was nineteen. Jack had grown quite attached to the little Rider boy. And now he was fourteen and she was twenty-five. She was far past college and going back home, but she didn't care because Alexander John Rider needed her.

Jack hadn't bothered to tell Alex that her visa had run out three years ago, she didn't have the heart to wound those innocent brown eyes. But when Alex had come back from the bank and informed her, with a hard stare, that Blunt had renewed her visa, she felt guilty.

Over the months, those brown eyes lost their innocence all together. Jack made it her personal goal to do something about that. So when Alex came back from his snake head mission, and Jack got the pleasure to meet the man that had renewed her visa, she smiled and shook his hand, punching him square in the jaw while doing so.

No, Jack would never hit Alex. But she felt no need to refrain from hitting his boss. The only thing Jack hit Alex with that day was a well deserved bout of real laughter. The teen was just glad that Blunt had already renewed the visa.


	11. K for K-Unit

K: K-Unit

"The Unit Alex trained with at Brecon Beacons for the first time."

The whole of K-Unit thought Alex, or 'Cub', was an insult. Something to hinder them, get them binned, even. Wolf had a suspicion that Cub was the son of a rich man. It made perfect sense; how were they supposed to know the kid was some sort of super spy?

So Wolf made it his duty, as unit leader, to get the boy binned. He failed miserably; there was no way Cub would leave before two weeks were up. The fourteen year old somehow survived those two weeks. K-Unit then thought that there was nothing normal about that boy. No normal teenager would have lasted two days in the training camp, let alone two weeks.

When Cub disappeared suddenly, Wolf couldn't say he'd be missed. Then the unit witnessed their fifth and most unorthodox member boarding down a black run with a sorry excuse for a snowboard, being chased by three men on snowmobiles with guns, and something changed.

Cub hadn't been an insult. Cub hadn't been there to get them binned. And Cub was not the son of a rich man. Cub was the real deal, and Wolf realized that, because of them not training the kid properly, Cub could very well die. That was the moment Wolf wished to go back to those two weeks and train the boy the way he should have been.

But the soldier wasn't God, and Cub, who had just jumped a train and hit a barbed wire fence, wasn't even close to being immortal. And when Wolf leaned over the boy to see if he was still breathing, the little devil cracked a smile.

"Over your fear of heights yet, Wolf?" The near whisper made the man crack his own. "Good to see you again, Cub." The soldier hauled him up carefully. "Snake, get over here! No member of my unit is dying tonight, Soldier."


	12. L for Legend

L: Legend

"A notable person whose deeds or exploits are much talked about in his own time."

At Brecon Beacons, there was a legend. K-Unit would reminisce about it at meal times and the Sergeant would use it to challenge the new recruits. It had a name, or rather a code name, and it was a great source of entertainment.

It was Cub.

When the new recruits were lagging and the Sergeant got annoyed, he would yell, "If Cub can do it, so can you!" The new recruits would ask around to see who this man was, who could do impossible feats. They would always be lead to K-Unit.

Wolf would stare with a wry smile, but it would be Fox who spoke. "Sub isn't a man, Soldier." He would say. Snake would snicker. "Cub's a boy." The new recruits would be stunned. Some even asked the head Chef, who would say, "That toy soldier? He was the only one brave enough to skip kitchen duty for an extra run on the assault course." So Cub wasn't just a joke. Cub was real.

Even Eagle, the normally jolly soldier, had some stories to tell. The recruits would go to the shooting range for practice and get on the man's last nerve with their horrible aim. "C'mon, men! Cub could shoot every target perfectly with his eyes closed!" He would yell.

And if one recruit was stupid enough to say the boy had peaked, two things would happen: one, kitchen duty. Two, Eagle would take their gun and show them just what Cub had taught the soldier; instinctive shooting.

With all the stories floating around, Cub had become a walking legend. And just like when Cub had been fourteen, he came to the camp unexpected. Four years had passed, but the legend himself walked back into the soldier's midst, trained again, and made new stories to tell by the time he got pulled out by MI6 for his 50th mission.

New recruits never doubted the legend again.


	13. M for Motorcycles

M: Motorcycle

"A two-wheeled vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine; Wolf's choice of 'Ride'."

To say the least, Alex was surprised when his teacher told him to wait for his ride after school. He hadn't thought Jack needed to pick him up today, but he guessed that it could be MI6, too. He was just glad he had walked to school today.

Tom left without saying goodbye to his friend; not as strange as it should have been since the boy thought it was MI6, also. They both were wrong.

Alex stood there, waiting to see a black, nondescript SUV pull up, when a couple of his schoolmates came to stand around him in a half circle. Jason and his lackeys. Yay.

One of them tapped the spy on his shoulder, so he turned around. "Yeah?" "Hey, druggy. Got any pills on you?" Jason sneered. Alex glared. "No."

The boy's face turned nasty. He shoved Alex back once and another boy took him by the neck. Somebody cleared their throat, and the hand was removed. A well-sculpted arm was thrown around his shoulder.

"Is there something you boys wanted?" Wolf growled. "Wolf! Hey," Alex smiled at his savior-of-the-moment. "Come on, Cub. Obviously this isn't important." None of the boys seemed to object.

Wolf turned Alex around and Cub was faced with a beautiful Harley Davidson bike of `97. Alex felt his cheeks heat up. "You know, Rider, next time your boyfriend won't be here to stop us," Jason called.

A very cocky, "Yes I will be," came out of the SAS soldier's mouth before Alex could reply. Wolf shoved a helmet on Cub's head, flashing a pearly smile at the shocked boys, and said, "Have a nice days, ladies."

He flicked his visor down with a mock, two-finger salute, felt Cub wrap his arms around his waist, revved the engine, and was off.

For the rest of the school year, Wolf picked him up, and Cub never bothered to ask why. He did, once, just for the hell of it, kiss Wolf on the cheek before getting on the bike with the man.

Wolf grinned like a madman the whole way home.


	14. N for Needles

N: Needles

"A small, slender rod of metal used for I.V purposes in hospitals."

The best way to describe Alex's situation was that he was being laughed at by an SAS soldier. And it wouldn't be all that strange, had that soldier not been Snake, of all soldiers, and the fact that Snake was laughing at Alex because the teen had refused to let Snake stick him with an I.V.

Alex was hellbent on getting away from the medic. So hellbent, in fact, that he had practically crawled into Eagle's lap and coat with the man. Fox stared in bewilderment at the wounded teen shaking near Eagle.

"Cub," he started slowly, "Are you afraid of needles?" At the mention of the medical instrument, Cub blushed brilliantly and buried his face in his hands. "Maybe..." he mumbled. Eagle broke out a smile.

"He says maybe. Which means, yes, Snake, you've managed to traumatize him more than the enemies did." Wolf clapped the Scottish man on the shoulder. "Nice one, Snake," he quipped. Snake just shrugged.

"Well, he lost more blood than the healthy dose, Wolf. I need to get a transfusion into the kid before he goes into shock." Cub's eyes widened, but not by the threatening idea of a transfusion.

Cub quickly got up from his position of cowering by Eagle and opened a small cupboard in the airborne helicopter. They had just airlifted him out of LEO's***** midst, after all.

Cub grabbed a bottle of chloroform and a rag, dousing it in the chemical. Before Snake could realize what the teen was doing, Alex sat himself back down beside Eagle and breathed deeply into the rag.

The last thing he heard was Wolf saying, "Well, now you can stick needles in him left and right." The medic snorted. "Yeah. Just take 'em out before he wakes up."

Joy.


	15. O for Obligations

O: Obligation

"The duty one has to do something selfless."

Alex Rider had an obligation to MI6. An obligation to go on missions willingly and to protect the world from madmen wanting grand killing sprees on international scales.

Cub had an obligation to do his best and impossible at Brecon Beacons. Another obligation of Cub was to be treated as a soldier, not a boy, and to take it like it dealt no harm.

Jack Starbright had an obligation, too. And that was to protect Alex with her life. To take care of him when he wasn't taking care of himself.

Even though Alex didn't like his bindings, he still felt them to be obligations, so he did them without complaining. He asked no questions when Blunt sent him into a situation that seemed a better place for a man, no questions he asked would ever be answered truthfully.

Half-lies and vague truths were all that came out of anybody's mouth anymore. The boy didn't know when those obligations would be gone, when his bindings would be cut, but he hoped it was soon.

Of course, Blunt wouldn't let the ties to his best agent be cut. So, when Blunt pushed Alex too far, Alex felt obligated to do something about it. And that's how Jack found her ward a few minutes after coming home from the store.

He had fulfilled his obligation with a single bullet to his head, and he had ended Jack's the same way. Alex Rider wasn't obligated to do anything anymore.


	16. P for Paper

P: Paper.

"Something you write or draw on."

Paper. A vent. Twenty-five blue lines to let all your feeling rest on. At least, that's how Alex saw paper. It could be a page meant for many read, or it could be a beautiful page filled with things nobody should ever know.

The latter was usually Alex's case. He had been sent to Brecon Beacons again for protection. He thought that he was sent back for more training. K-Unit was at target practice when he made it to his bunk, so he grabbed a pen and a notebook he had stored with his other things and began to write.

Cub knew that when K-Unit came back, they'd have the rest of the day off. He was exhausted, and he'd already written a pageful, so he leaned back and let his mind wander. Alex really hadn't meant to fall asleep.

The four soldiers walked into their barracks and saw Cub sleeping, quickly quieting down as to not wake their unorthodox fifth member. Eagle wandered over and snatched the notebook, beginning to read.

He was a curious man, so he had a motive. When he was done, his eyebrows were furrowed and he was biting his lip. "Jesus. For his age, that's deep." The notebook was passed around and eventually it made its way back to Cub's bunk.

"Never knew the kid felt that way," Wolf said tiredly. They all mumbled some form of agreement, sifting away to their own bunks, silent in their heavy thoughts.

_'I've been reduced to a tool for MI6. A toy soldier to fuck with for the sergeant and "my unit". (Ha, as if they'd ever accept me as a teammate.) Maybe even a small pawn in the whole scheme of things. _

_I wonder how Blunt would react if I told him that I wanted to die; wanted to drag him to Hell with me. Because I know I'm nowhere near Heaven material. Not that I'm religious, but I'd be lucky to get into Purgatory. _

_Fuck MI6. I want to go back, to the day they got my uncle killed. I shouldn't have poked my nose in where it didn't belong. I'm tired of lying. Tired of the rumors at school. Not that I'm there enough to actually hear them all. _

_There's just something...unsettling when old mates jump on every chance to knock a guy down. When he's not even around to defend himself, no less. I'm either a druggy or a gang member or involved with something like that._

_Honestly, I'd rather be one of those than this damn monster MI6 has turned me into. I kind of wish I could go down to the shooting range. There are plenty of soldiers down there that hate my guts; maybe if I can rub one of them just right...Accidents happen, you know?'_


	17. Q for Qualm

Q: Qualm.

"A sudden feeling of sickness or unease."

Alex had been at Brecon Beacons for over a month. The soldiers had all gotten over the fact that Cub was back, and Cub himself had gotten used to the fact that he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

It was 4:30 AM when Alex awoke, a full half hour before the rest of the soldiers were supposed to get up. The teen looked around. Nothing seemed to have awoken him except his own body, so he sat up.

And he almost laid right back down. Cub's head was pounding a mile a minute, and it felt like his stomach was tying knots and doing flips. What had he done?

Thirty minutes of not-so-silent whimpering and K-Unit finally got up. Cub had managed to pull his pants and undershirt on, but his boots were untied and he had his head in his hands.

"Cub? You okay?" The teen shook his head. "It's...fine. I just need a few minutes." A Scottish voice came from his right. "Oh, like the thirty minutes you had before this?" The medic moved Cub's hand away and gently touched his lips to the boy's forehead.

"You're burning up, Cub. I'm willing to bet your head is killing you." The teen groaned. Snake had, at this point, entered mother hen mode. Cub looked at his teammate, who had sat down next to him.

"Holy fuck." The sick kid furrowed his brow. "W-What?" His voice sounded far away and tunneled to his own ears. Snake snatched a torch from off the top of the trunk at the end of Cub's bed, clicking it on as he watched the teen recoil from the harsh light.

The thing was, Cub's pupils had remained dilated. There was only a sliver of honey brown left. "This isn't going to blow over. Cub's been poisoned." K-Unit immediately jumped into action, and if anyone were to be asked, at exactly 5:04 that morning, Wolf, Fox, Snake and Eagle made a mad dash for the medical barracks.

All that was seen of Cub was his skinny limbs bouncing with each step Eagle took, as the boy was cradled in the soldier's arms. One new recruit smiled.


	18. R for Remembrance Day

R: Remembrance Day.

"A day to collectively remember your dead."

Alex fiddled with the three red poppies in his hand. It was November eleventh, and the teen suddenly wished he had gone on that recon mission that was offered to him the day before. He had forgotten all about this little meeting, much to his annoyance.

It was more of a tradition than a meeting, really. It was held outside in a secure graveyard, almost all of the MI6 agents and some SAS units present. Much to Alex's pleasure, Ben Daniels was there, so K-Unit was, too.

His last name was called from the microphone, so the teen stood up and walked towards Mrs. Jones. She gave him a rare smile as he stepped up to speak.

"My name's Alex Rider. At least four of you know me as Cub, but that's a different story," Alex began. He was almost proud of the fact that his voice didn't waver. He dropped two of the red poppies at the front of the stage, where more had been piled up.

"I lost my mum and dad when I was only a year and a half. Their plane blew up and crashed. Some of you might've known John Rider, I'm sure. Helen was his wife." Alex twirled his last poppy between two fingers. Before letting it drop, he plucked a single petal from it.

"A lot of you knew Ian Rider. He was my uncle, and my guardian when my parents died. His death is actually the reason I'm an agent." He let the petal drop and looked up at last. A woman in the front row was crying as she smiled up at Alex. He gave a shy smile back and scanned the faces once more.

A lot of them were horror filled at the thought of a teenager being an agent, but some of them were smug at seeing the Rider boy. Alex looked over at Ben and the rest of K-Unit on reflex.

Ben looked sympathetic and Wolf looked troubled. Snake had a smile on his face that could be called troubled or proud, and Eagle was waving at him energetically. "Cub! C'mere!" Alex hopped off the stage and made a beeline for his unit.

As he passed the crying woman in the front row, she half-whispered, "John was a good man. You remind me of him." The boy slowed to extend an honest thanks, and Mrs. Jones smiled as Alex was lifted onto Eagle's shoulders.


	19. S for Scars

S: Scars.

"A permanent mark left on the skin after a wound has healed."

Alex had wounds that scarred, and some that didn't. A whip across the back? Scar. A scraped knee? Probably not. He had emotional wounds that would scar, too.

Jack being shot in the head in front of him? Scar. Kids calling him something he was not? No scar. Alex found it ironic that no amount of physical pain could even skim the edges off the emotional pain.

It just wasn't right. He shouldn't have to go through with this. If Blunt had shipped him off to a mental hospital, he would have felt a lot better. But no, the man had sent him back to Brecon Beacons for protection and training.

He didn't feel inclined to tell his boss that he would only be receiving one of the two. And to top it all off, he couldn't even get back with K-Unit because they were currently deployed far away, in a completely different country.

He had to train with E-Unit, who had lost a man temporarily to a broken foot. His temporary unit felt like Cub was replacing Zebra, which was not good. Cub himself felt like it was hell on earth; the ninth circle, at that.

So the months passed by with the boy going through his inner turmoil and being harassed by the soldiers. On the third month, K-Unit came back. They were heading to the sergeant's barracks when they heard the muffled noise of what could only be a fight coming from behind E-Unit's barracks.

Wolf changed routes with a curious glance at their new destination. When K-Unit rounded the corner, they all had a mini-heart attack. There lay Cub, trying to protect himself by curling into a ball, getting kicked harshly by the whole of E-Unit.

Wolf was pissed. He tackled Muskrat as Fox threw Cricket to the ground. Bear was held back by Eagle as Snake pulled Cub up. He removed his hands from the boy's wrists and looked at his bloody palms.

Confusion evident, he flipped Cub's wrists over. Hundreds of them. Tiny, deep cuts littered every inch of the shaking arms. Old scars and new wounds. Snake was just worried about the four inch gash down each wrist, still bleeding heavily.

"I'm sorry," He heard Cub mumble before the boy collapsed.


	20. T for Torture

T: Torture.

"The act of inflicting severe physical or any other type of pain on someone to force information out of them."

Tucker Misigno was having fun. Which, in itself, was a bad thing. He whipped the boy again and watched as the blood soaked back arched. He had been at this for an hour and the teen hadn't even uttered a sound.

Full grown men had been screaming at this point. In truth, it was taking all of Alex's will power to not give the man what he wanted. He was pretty sure that if he bit any harder, he'd bite his tongue in half.

Finally, the whips stopped slicing into his skin and Alex released his tongue slowly. He was cut down, ropes still around his wrists, and practically thrown across the room. Tucker continued to beat on him until he rendered the boy unconscious.

When Alex woke up, he was sure of three things. One, his shoulder was dislocated. Two, there was a siege going on. And three, if there was a siege, there were potential rescuers. The door to his cell was banged open and two SAS soldiers he didn't recognize ran in.

He held his hands up in a mock surrender signal and the two lowered their guns with odd expressions. "Do either of you kind men know how to relocate a shoulder?" Alex asked as he stood up.

The man on the left took a step forward and said, "Which one?" Alex spun around so his back was facing the soldier. "Right," was the only word Alex said before biting down on the bloody ropes. His low moan was muffled as the man got his shoulder back into place.

"Jesus, kid, you're tough. Owl screamed when I did it for him." - "Shut it, Raccoon," Owl snapped. Cub rolled his shoulders with a smirk. "I'm not tough; I'm Cub." Both soldiers froze. They had heard about the legendary kid, but had never dreamed of meeting him.

The teen walked out, and after he realized that no one was following, he poked his head back into the cell. "Owl, Raccoon, come!" When the soldiers saw Cub in the better light, they saw all the bruises and cuts and scars.

No, it was true. Not even torture could break this toy soldier.


	21. U for Unarmed

U: Unarmed.

"The act of going into a dangerous situation with nothing to protect oneself with."

Alex hated going in unarmed. Sure, he got defensive little gadgets from Smithers, but no guns or anything. Blunt treated him like an adult, but gave him rules as if he were a child. The teen wanted to scream at the man and tell him to make up his mind.

After his training with SCORPIA, Blunt still refused to give him a gun. Alex couldn't understand why. He had even gone to Mrs. Jones, once, in hopes of shedding light on the situation. No light was thrown on it; in fact, it was darker than ever when the woman said, "I think you should ask Mr. Blunt himself."

After that, Alex didn't even bother on asking Mr. Smithers. After Alex was debriefed on his Point Blanc mission, Blunt sighed and told him to sit down. "Alex, would you like to know why I send you in unarmed?"

The teen could feel his brow furrow. "Actually, yes, I do." Blunt nodded his head as if he appreciated Alex's straight forward answer. Hell, he probably did.

"I send you in unarmed because I know you can do the missions without a gun. You are resourceful, Alex. You make the most out of your environment and manipulate things to your advantage. A gun would just distract you, like it did me almost twenty-five years ago."

Alex considered asking how a gun had distracted Blunt when the man continued. "It was my last mission and my only fuck up." Alex raised an eyebrow at the curse word.

"It was only a recon mission; really no need for a weapon. But I had one anyways. I was cleaning it and I missed my signal to move in. Lethal drugs made it halfway to Jamaica because I was looking down at a gun instead of up at my partner."

Of course Alex was sent in unarmed as to not effect his success rates. Not that Blunt cared if the boy forgot to put the safety lock on and shot himself in the foot or anything. Alex felt a sly smirk tug at his mouth.

"That was your _only _fuck up?"


	22. V for Vandalism

V: Vandalism.

"The act of destroying someone's property on purpose."

Tom was good at getting Alex to go along with his plans. It did help some that Alex was willing to do it in the first place. The whole first year was at Brecon Beacons, after an attack was made on Brookland.

K-Unit had yet to know Cub was back, and said teen had a plan to reveal himself to them. "Okay, Tom. You get the word 'Cub,' and I'll get the word 'Rocks'. You know who to hit?" They were chatting quietly to themselves at the far end of a dinner table.

After the meal, two units were going to take them paint balling; K and D-Units. "Yeah, yeah," Tom said, " 'C' on Wolf, 'U' on Fox, and 'B' on Snake. You got Eagle with 'R' and D-Unit with the rest."

Alex smiled wickedly and bumped his fist against Tom's own. "Let's do this."

Almost an hour and a half later found the two sniggering boys in a line up with the rest of the students. They had made sure to get paint on them so they didn't stand out. The sergeant was chewing both teams out when he stopped.

"K-Unit, stand in order." The order was right. Wolf, Fox, Snake, then Eagle. The soldiers looked confused and Cub had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Tom had a surprisingly straight face.

"D-Unit, you too." Jackal, Panther, Rat and Wasp rearranged themselves and one student called out, "What does that mean?"

The sergeant turned back to the girl. "I know what it means, girl. But you should read it out loud." The girl, Miranda, swallowed nervously but did what she was told. "It says, 'Cub Rocks', Sir."

Wolf sputtered a word that sounded suspiciously like a curse, Fox's mouth flipped up in a startled but wry grin, Eagle huffed in either annoyance or shocked surprise, and Snake choked on his own spit. D-Unit stood in curious silence.

"Cub's _here_?!" Wolf finally managed to choke out. Three things happened at once.

Tom whispered, "Phase two." Alex shot the soldiers a shit eating grin before shouting, "Not anymore!" looking pointedly at Wolf. After that caught the sergeant's attention, Alex booked it out of there like he was going to be slaughtered. K-Unit flew after him.

Nobody was surprised that it was Alex Rider.


	23. W for Warfare

W: Warfare.

"The act of war."

Wolf never expected to see Cub again. The kid was no soldier; he was the son of a rich man. At least, that's what Wolf and the rest of the SAS soldiers had thought of him. He was right- Cub was no soldier, but he was a spy. And that's what he was doing in Iraq. Spying.

Cub was acting as a weapons dealer for the other, smaller army, when in truth, he was reporting all their stocks back to Sergeant Niter. The SAS units were in Iraq, trying to subdue the rebels. They weren't to take direct actions unless action was absolutely needed.

MI6 thought it safe to send Alex in where three other men had failed. The teen had agreed, knowing that SAS units were going to be there as his immediate back up. Alex had been going over the list of new weapons with the sergeant when none other than Wolf himself opened the door.

"Sir, we've got reason to believe that the rebels are moving out this morning." He was looking at a paper, which was the reason why he hadn't seen Cub yet. "Yes, they are. I was getting to that, Sergeant. I have to get back to them before I raise some suspicion with my absence."

Wolf looked at him for the first time. "Cub?" he asked. The teen nodded with a small smile and a half-hearted wave of greeting. "Hey, Wolf." Alex stood to leave, but Wolf blocked the exit. "You can't go back there, Cub." He muttered.

"Stand down, Soldier." The sergeant said tiredly. "I won't. Are you just letting him do this?" K-Unit's leader growled, not unlike his namesake. "I said stand down, Soldier! He is not under my command. Hell, his rank is higher than mine."

Wolf gave Cub a cursory yet curious glance. "Then what the fuck ya' doin', Cub?" The teen rolled his eyes. "I'm a spy working for MI6, Wolf. The French Alps weren't just a one time thing."

The soldier stood aside wearily. "I still don't think it's right to send you into warfare, Kid." Alex patted the man's arm comfortingly as he slid past. "Don't worry, Wolf. I don't like it, either."


	24. X for Xmas (Haha, I cheated)

X: X-mas.

"The holiday of Christmas. December 25th."

Alex had never experienced a holiday other than his birthday. Which really didn't count, because he didn't like his birthday. Even with Jack, Alex never did anything. The red-headed American usually flew home for the holidays, and Ian just never celebrated them.

And for some reason, this came to a complete and utter shock to the four men Alex called K-Unit. Since Jack had been sent back to America against her will, Alex had went to Brecon Beacons. He was situated wit K-Unit again, and the four soldiers were a lot better than the first time around.

Wold considered Cub a part of the unit, and Alex considered the four as potential friends, even. It was honing in on December 25th when Snake popped the question. "Hey Cub, what did you get for Christmas last year?" the medic asked.

"Nothing, why?" Fox chucked a pillow at the teen's head. "What? Were you a bad kid or something?" The soldier teased, thinking Alex's statement had been a joke. Cub chucked the pillow back just as hard.

"No, my uncle just never celebrated holidays, and my housekeeper flew home for them. The most I got was a birthday cake once a year, sometimes not even that." Wolf looked up from his card game with Eagle.

"Seriously, Kid? You missed a lot!" Cub just shrugged and continued reading. Snake asked another question. "Okay, so if I were to get you a present, what would I get you?" The youngest member of K-Unit gaped at the Scottish man.

"Don't you dare, Snake. I hardly need anything but more training, and that's a terrible gift." Snake leaned forward on his bunk. "Presents aren't about what you _need_, Cub. It's about what you _want._"

Cub huffed out a sigh, thoroughly annoyed. "Okay. I guess I want to see my mate Tom again." Alex thought nothing of it. He was the first and only one to fall asleep that night though.

Cub woke up to someone shaking him incessantly. "Come one, Alex. Get up and help me wage war with snowballs!" A familiar voice whined at him. Cub had opened his eyes at the use of his real name.

There stood Tom Harris, in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle snow gear, with a red bow slipping sideways on his forehead. It was Alex's best Christmas ever.


	25. Y for Young

Y: Young

"Being youthful."

Alex is a spy because he is young and capable of being one. He is good at what he does because his enemies don't suspect him. And even though his job has somewhat ruined his life, Alex enjoys being a young spy.

He takes a certain entertainment from the fact that, even though he won't, he could kill the people starting rumors about him without a sound. He could do it in fifty different ways, and it could all look accidental or suicidal.

He finds it funny how he can manipulate a conversation so bad that the main topic will be why he's gone so much and the topic he eased the person into will be what they had for dinner two nights ago.

Tom has seen him at work, disabling a bomb in the storage room that one of his enemies placed there. Tom had commented that he was proud he was Alex's best mate. Alex was also glad he was a spy, because, in a way, it had brought him Tom, too.

If Ian hadn't taught him everything he knew about fighting in preparation of becoming what he was, Alex wouldn't have fended off the bullies so easily.

He thought it was odd. At first, he had dreamed of being a mini James Bond, just like any other boy his age. Then, once he had become one, he dreamed of being a schoolboy once more. That was over now.

All Alex wanted to do was tell his whole school who he really was. But, just like most of the agents at the Royal and General "Bank", they would say, 'Aren't you a little young..?"

Alex would just shrug and prove it in one way or another. Their faces were always priceless. Yeah, Alex loved being a young spy.


	26. And Z for Zippy

Z: Zippy.

"What one would call someone who was full of energy and unable to calm down."

After fourteen and a half years of life, it took Alex two skipped meals and a rude comment from Wolf to make Alex realize he had hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.

They had had a small breakfast and were told to go on an all day hike; an endurance test or something of the sort. It had been okay at first- Cub could keep up with his unit on most things, anyways, but once it hist midday, Cub began to slow his pace.

He was shaking uncontrollably, had double and blurry vision (which was quite disorienting), and almost four hours into the hike, Cub forgot what he was doing altogether. When they stopped to set up camp near nightfall, Wolf addressed him.

"Cub, you look like shit." _'Good old Wolf for me,'_ Cub thought, aggravated. The teen picked his head up off of his knees to glare at the unit leader. He couldn't even make out facial features.

"Whoa...Wolf, he kinda looks like you when your blood sugar's low," Eagle pointed out. "Which it is, since I haven't eaten anything since six this morning!" Wolf snapped back. Eagle held his hands up in surrender.

"None of us have, Wolf. Just grab me one of your pills and take on yourself." Snake was handed a small white tablet from Wolf, who swallowed one at Snake's command.

"Cub? Open your eyes for me. What are you feeling?" The teen fluttered his eyes open, searching for the Scottish man. "M'dizzy...Can't see right. Everything's blurry." He hardly registered Snake feeling for his pulse on his wrist.

"Too fast..." the man whispered, almost to himself. "Alright, shaking? Nausea?" Cub just nodded his head. "Jesus, Snake. Interrogate the kid, why dontcha," Fox said jokingly. Snake turned to glare at him.

Turning back, the medic said, "Swallow this. You'll feel fine once you get some food in you and that kicks in." Snake popped the pill into the kid's mouth when Cub went to go yawn around his hand, and he swallowed in response to it hitting his tongue before he had a chance to protest or even ask what it was.

In five minutes, he was up and racing Eagle through the campsite, yelling and cartwheeling when he won. "Jesus. Was I like that the first time?" Wolf asked. "A little milder, but not by much, yeah. At least Eagle won't get bored." Snake smirked as Cub was tackled by the hyperactive sniper. Wolf just twitched.


End file.
